An Unexpected Meeting
by Wish my name was Ginny
Summary: Harry Potter goes out for a drink and he meets some one that he hasnt seen in over 22 years... tell me if you like it and want me to add on to it and make another chapter


_**An Unexpected Meeting**_

"I can't stand it!" yelled Harry over the screams. There was a brief moment when all three children stopped wrestling and looked guiltily at their father, trying to decide exactly how angry he was. But the moment passed and the fighting resumed, only slightly less rowdy than before. "Fine," muttered Harry, and he stomped down the stairs just as Ginny came through the front door, home from work.

"JAMES I AM GOING TO _KILL_ YOU!!" shouted Lily from upstairs. There was a crash.

Ginny sighed. "Not again."

"They've been going at it for an hour, since Teddy left."

"Do they have wands?"

Harry pulled three wands from his pocket. He put them on the front hall table.

"Good," said Ginny. She put down her bag and kissed Harry on the cheek.

"Good luck with them," Harry said, grabbing his clock and heading out the door without further ado.

"Where are you going?"

"I need a drink."

"Don't be home too late!"

He went outside and closed the door. From upstairs he heard Ginny, "DON'T MAKE ME CALL UNCLE GEORGE! HE'LL WHIP YOU INTO SHAPE!"

Harry smiled to himself and apparated. The leaky cauldron materialized where Harry and Ginny's big stone house had been. Two figures staggered out of the front door, one supporting the other.

"Dean? Seamus?" Harry asked uncertainly, squinting in the dark.

"Hey, Harry! That you?" It was Dean Thomas indeed, holding up a very drunk Seamus Finnegan.

"Great to see you, Dean. Congrats about Luna and you, Ginny told me."

"Thanks, Harry," Dean's voice rang with pride and happiness. Harry was truly glad for him. He'd never have thought two people like Dean and Luna would have gotten together, although Hermione said it had been obvious. Girls had a certain sense about these things, thought Harry. He wondered if they ever grew out of it.

"When's the wedding?" he asked.

"June the third. Luna says it's the anniversary of the day they found out that Gurdyroots ward off gulping pimples, which was a great discovery because, you know, they're all invisible. Or maybe it's the nargles that are invisible...can't really remember..."

"Er...okay." Harry had always thought that gulping pimples and nargles were the same thing. He'd ask Luna at the wedding.

"Hiya Harry..." said Seamus, a little too loudly. He seemed to have just realized that Harry was there.

Dean looked fondly at his friend. "I should get you home. See ya, Harry." They apparated before Harry could say goodbye.

Inside the Leaky Cauldron, Tom was washing glasses. He smiled when he saw Harry. "Back again, are you?" Harry sat down. "It's only been a week into the Christmas holidays and you've been in here every evening. S'pect the kids should be back to Hogwarts soon."

"I'm counting down the days. I'll have my usual, Tom," Harry replied. He felt rather back for McGonagall. Harry had the children for two months in the summer and at Christmas, but she had them for the rest of the year. They were fine children, but James seemed to have inherited all the qualities of his namesake, who had always appreciated a little adventure, and liked to make his days at Hogwarts interesting. Him and Freddy Weasley were almost inseparable, much like Harry's father and godfather at that age. Harry still felt sad when he thought of Sirius, but the feeling had dulled somewhat over the years, and now he was just glad of the rare moments he had spent with his father's best friend before he had died.

And Lily...she was a reincarnation of Ginny's twin brothers, Fred and George. There was only one of her, but she did enough mischief for two. Her favourite thing in the world was to cause trouble.

And little Albus had the charm of his...but Harry's thoughts were interrupted.

"Oh, um...Harry..." muttered a voice, awkwardly. Harry turned and saw...no, it couldn't be. But it was. He would recognize that large blonde face anywhere. It was Dudley.

"Er...how you doing?" said Harry politely, after recovering from his initial shock. What was he doing here, in a wizard tavern? Had he gotten lost and come in by mistake?

"I'm okay. Listen, I know about all the things you've done and, well...good on you."

"Thanks. Uh..." Dudley had made Harry's life unbearable, but there was something different about him now. "So...you married?"

"Yeah, I have a son, too...you?"

"Er, yeah...two sons and a daughter." Tom put Harry's drink on the bar. Tom didn't seem to notice anything funny about a muggle sitting in his inn. There was an awkward pause. Dudley looked shyly down at his hands. Harry sipped at his drink.

"Harry...I am so sorry. I mean, for being so mean to you and all...and for trying to stuff your head in the toilet so many times."

"Trying?" said Harry. They both chuckled, but Dudley was still solemn. It seemed like he had spent a lot of time planning this moment. Why not, thought Harry. "Listen, Dudley, I think that we should forget all that and maybe see each other again...sometime."

Dudley looked up at his long-lost cousin. "Yeah, sure. Maybe for dinner sometime."

"Sounds great."

"But it has to be at your house...what would the neighbours say if they saw you come in on a broomstick?"

Harry suppressed a grin. "Okay."

"Janet and I are buying a house in a wizard neighbourhood this summer, just as soon as we can get all the banshees out. They're quite loud."

"I've heard." Harry did a double take. "Wait a minute, a _wizard_ neighbourhood?"

"Oh, um...Janet's a witch. Our son goes to Hogwarts."

That made sense. And now that Harry thought about it, he _had_ overheard Albus and Hugo talking about a boy named Clide Dudley taking knuts from first years, but he had dismissed it as a coincidence.

"You can come over, but only if I can call you Diddykins," chuckled Harry.

Dudley blushed. "Mum still calls me that sometimes. She was a bit mad 'bout the wizard thing, but she's come round. You should see her again sometime. Hey, Tom, bring us some beer! We've got some catching up to do."

As Dudley turned round on his stool and smiled at Tom, Harry had two scary thoughts. One was about "beer." He'd never heard of it and he hoped that it wasn't some weird muggle drink. But the scarier thought (the scariest he'd ever had, really) was that he was happy that Dudley was still alive.


End file.
